Football
Features
Sky looking to the future with YouTube Premier League highlights
SportBusiness talks to YouTube’s head of sport EMEA, Tomos Grace about Sky Sports' recent decision to make Premier League match highlights available on YouTube.
Paddy Power’s Save Our Shirt campaign offers positive message but struggles to balance risk and reward
Never knowingly understated, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power's latest marketing activation ended up garnering a £50,000 fine for one of its partner clubs. Adam Nelson takes a look at the story behind the betting company's 'unsponsorship' of five UK football teams, and whether the campaign can maintain relevance and visibility throughout the season.
Las Vegas’s minor league teams confirm city’s place as major league sports town
The city of Las Vegas is not immediately recognizable for its reputation as a sports hub. Bob Williams looks at how it is transitioning "from the entertainment capital of the world to the sports and entertainment capital of the world".
After Leoz’s death, South American football is still battling the ghosts of its corrupt past
The death of former Conmebol president Nicolás Leoz has brought South American football one step closer to closing the book on an era of corruption. As global agencies and investment funds are taking advantage of the power vacuum, Callum McCarthy examines the current landscape and asks if and when that book can be closed for good.
LED advertising | Why it took just one second to damage Infront’s reputation
With a former Infront executive under investigation for defrauding sponsors of the German Football Association, Frank Dunne explains how the scandal has affected both the agency and the already-embattled DFB, and how brands can ensure they're getting what they pay for from their partnerships.
Facebook chooses Barcelona to develop new Fan Subscription platform
Spanish LaLiga football club Barcelona has said it will become the first partner for social media platform Facebook’s new Fan Subscription service.
Canal Plus increases 4K sports commitment
French pay-TV broadcaster Canal Plus is making ultra high-definition coverage of the entirety of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and two English Premier League matches per week available to its subscribers
Infantino talks up Women’s World League, Club World Cup
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has said he will continue to push for a new Women’s World League national team competition, despite seeing his original proposal blocked from within world football’s gov…
Tottenham hails stadium financing deal
English Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur has agreed a refinancing package for the £637m (€722m/$792.7m
Women’s Super League title sponsorship reinforces Barclays’ status as ‘financial partner of football’
Barclays global head of sponsorships and media, Tom Corbett, tells Adam Nelson why the bank has stepped up its association with football by signing a record-breaking title partnership with the Women's Super League.
Football clubs have woken up to the power of FIFA and Pro Evo
The recent round of video game licensing deals signed by clubs and leagues with EA Sports and Konami show how complicated the video game licensing business has become. Callum McCarthy examines whether it is better to sell rights collectively or go it alone.
LaLiga and Bundesliga aim to make inroads on Premier League’s Asian dominance
The Premier League has long been the top international football league in Asia. As the 2019-20 season begins, SportBusiness Asia spoke to the Asian offices of Spain’s LaLiga and Germany’s Bundesliga about their work to challenge the English league’s position.
“Women’s football is about so much more than what happens on the pitch” | Fifa’s Sarai Bareman
SportBusiness speaks to Fifa's chief women’s football officer, Sarai Bareman, to get her reflections on the 2019 Women's World Cup in France and hear how she is hoping to leverage the momentum gained from that event to further develop women’s football around the world.
The challenge facing the next Premier League chief executive: media-rights growth has stalled
The search to replace Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, who announced his resignation over a year ago, has proved arduous. Frank Dunne looks at the issues surrounding media-rights growth and the challenges Scudamore's succesor should expect.
FFA embraces ‘challenger brand’ status as A-League spin-off heralds new dawn for Australian soccer
Australian football entered a new stage in its development earlier this year with the announcement that the A-League and W-League would be spun off from Football Federation Australia. The FFA's chief commercial and marketing officer Luke Bould talks Adam Nelson through the implications of the move and how the body is set up to weather the change.
Liverpool goes it alone | Why an ‘independent’ US tour offered the club more than the ICC
Liverpool FC decided to arrange its own tour of the United States this summer, rather than compete in the pre-season International Champions Cup, because the club preferred to be "independent" and have more freedom to arrange opponents, dates and venues.
Ligue 1 stages US games to attract new investors and bridge gap to Serie A and the Bundesliga
As France's Ligue 1 is staging a four-team tournament in Washington DC this week, Bob Williams looks at how it aims to expand its reach into the US and improve overseas media-rights income.
Charlie Marshall, managing director ECA, on Uefa club competition reform
Highlights of Charlie Marshall, managing director of the European Club Association, in conversation at the Sports Decision Makers Summit in London.
How football clubs can cash in on the game’s changing investment landscape
Capital investors’ interest in football clubs is growing; their increasing profitability has attracted more new types of investor. But what does this mean for clubs and how can they best approach the opportunities and challenges? Jonathan Dyson investigates.
Thailand football association urges clarity on Asean 2034 World Cup bid
Football Association of Thailand president Somyot Poompunmuang believes that more clarity needs to be given about an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) 2034 World Cup bid, especially on which…
The Long Read | Potential investors will do well to look closely at the football deals of Endeavor and Wanda Sports
With Endeavor and Wanda Sports both preparing for IPOs, Frank Dunne looks at how the media rights strategies of their respective buying arms, the IMG and Infront agencies, fit into the two groups’ portfolios and explains why potential investors would be advised to look carefully at the small print around some key football deals.
Brazilian club football is shown the light, but chooses to remain in the dark
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A will be the only major football league in the world without international, local-language distribution in 2019. Callum McCarthy looks at why Brazilian club football lags behind its European counterparts.
US team enters Women’s World Cup with heavy expectations, wage fight
Faced with their own lofty expectations, following last year's no-show by the US men's team and now embroiled in a legal challenge regarding pay equity, the American women's squad arrives to the 2019 Fifa Women's Cup with much on their shoulders. Randy Williams reports.
Time to monetise | The football clubs turning Chinese engagement into revenues
Many European football clubs are aiming to convert their large Chinese fanbases into significant new revenue streams. However, they must adapt to this complex market in order to capitalise on its huge potential. Jonathan Dyson reports from Shanghai.
Heineken calls for Uefa to ‘nurture’ sponsors with more free-to-air Champions League coverage
Hans Erik Tuijt, director global sponsorships, Heineken, speaks to Ben Cronin about the brand’s 25-year association with the Uefa Champions League and how it plans to activate its rights at this year’s final in Madrid.
Governing bodies have plans for women’s football but is the pace of change fast enough?
Fifa and Uefa have both unveiled strategies for the long-term development of women's football. Frank Dunne examines what it would take to put female competitions on an equal footing with their male equivalents.
Can new Bundesliga domestic and international deals prove 50+1 isn’t holding it back?
German football has earned praise for its blend of ideological purity and commercial nous, but calls to reform restrictions on private ownership and investment are growing. With the Bundesliga’s media rights coming to market, Callum McCarthy explores how the league’s commercial performance over the next 18 months could shape its long-term future.
Crystal Palace aims to become sponsors’ “club of choice in London”
South London football club Crystal Palace is a model for aspirational second-tier teams. The club's commercial director, Barry Webber, tells Adam Nelson how a nimble and flexible commercial strategy has helped the club to capitalise on its top-flight status.